Four favorite sevens: A detailed look at four of our shooting editor's favorite cartridges

Guns Magazine, Jan 1, 2002 by Dave Anderson

It is really not much of a secret that American hunters and shooters have a bewildering variety of rifle cartridges to choose from. Indeed, the case can be made that we may have too many. Nevertheless, we enjoy our selection. It permits us to choose a cartridge that is nearly ideal for some specific task and allows us to enjoy the pleasure of shooting something different from what the average rifleman or hunter employs.

Because of these and other reasons, I have found great success with a variety of 7mm cartridges. Some of them are very common while others have not enjoyed the attention that their excellent performance deserves. Four of my favorites are the 7mm Mauser, 7mm-08 Remington, .280 Remington and .284 Winchester. All fire 130- to 150-grain bullets with high enough ballistic coefficients and sectional densities to give good retained energy. All give these bullets sufficiently high velocities so that trajectories are flat over realistic hunting ranges. They achieve these efficient ballistics with moderate recoil, even in rifles that are light and portable enough to be carded comfortably.

Any of these cartridges in a light- to medium-weight, bolt-action or single-shot rifle fits the recipe for the classic mountain rifle. Such rifles when chambered in these calibers are perfect for many situations and can make do in a lot of others. They are pleasant to shoot -- and the more they are used, the greater the shooter's ability and confidence becomes.

A dynamic I've noticed again and again is that those who start out with centerfire rifles of reasonable recoil often become rifle and shooting enthusiasts. And those who start out shooting a rifle with more recoil than they are comfortable with don't shoot their rifles unless they really have to. They're often fine hunters and adequate shots, but they are less likely to become real rifle enthusiasts.

The Venerable 7x57mm

The senior member of the group is the 7mm Mauser. In European terminology it is known as the 7x57 Mauser, indicating 7mm bore diameter and 57mm case length. Groove diameter is 7.2mm, and it fires 7.2mm (0.284-inch) bullets. Originating in 1892, the 7mm Mauser somehow still seems modern. Americans first became acquainted with it during the Spanish-American war in which it was much feared for the flat trajectory and deep penetration of its bullets.

The original military load for the 7mm Mauser was a 173-grain bullet at about 2,300 fps. Following the first World War, several South American countries contracted with the Western Cartridge Co. for a hotter load, a 139-grain bullet at 2,900 fps. Western offered the same load with a 139-grain, open-point expanding bullet to the sporting market. This load made the 7mm a fairly popular round with American hunters in the '20s and '30s.

Incidentally, some may wonder why we have oddball bullet weights such as 139 and 154 grains. The reason is that these are from European designers who used the metric system. A 9-gram bullet weighs approximately 139 grains; a 10-gram bullet weighs 154 grains.

A minor criticism is that the 7mm Mauser and its relatives don't quite fit the concept of short and long actions, at least as offered by American companies. Most American "short" actions are built around magazine boxes that accept cartridges up to 2.8-inch overall length, such as the .308 Winchester and its offspring. "Long" or "standard" actions usually have magazine boxes around 3.4 inches in length, suited to the .30-'06 family and magnums such as the 7mm. Rem., .300 and .338 Win.

The 7mm Mauser, loaded to an overall length of around 3.0 inches, falls in the middle. It's too long for short actions; if a long action is used, there's a nagging sense that one might as well have it chambered for .270 or .280. Yes, fretting about less than a half inch of surplus action length really is nitpicking, but fussing over details is what we rifle enthusiasts do.

The Ultra Light Arms Model 20 short action is compact and lightweight, but it has a full 3-inch magazine box that makes it suitable for the 7mm Mauser and its offspring. These rifles are more expensive than typical off-the-rack models from major companies -- but judged as they should be by custom rifle standards, they are an excellent value.

Factory offerings from the major ammunition manufacturers are a bit sparse, though adequate. Because so many military surplus rifles of uncertain vintage and condition were imported, industry pressure standards for the 7mm Mauser are lower than other commercial rounds. (See chart #1)

These velocities were taken in 24-inch barrels. In the more popular 22-inch barrels, the 140-grain factory loads typically produce around or a bit less than 2,600 fps. By today's standards these loads don't seem very exciting -- but they are pleasant to shoot, are mild in both report and recoil, provide an adequately flat trajectory at least to 250 yards, and certainly have adequate power for deer and game of similar size.

Reloaders can access the extensive selection of fine 7mm bullets. In strong, modern, high-quality actions such as the Ruger No. 1 and M77, reloading can safely and appreciably improve on factory ballistics. Moderately slow-burning powders seem to produce the best results in this medium-capacity case.